Dennis Nicholls
Senior HTF Member
I'm wondering where this nonsense line originated: with a hey nonny nonny and a hot cha cha.
It appears in at least two films that I know of: the Marx brothers Duck Soup and the fit-as-a-fiddle number in Singin' In The Rain. The wording is exactly the same in both places. Let me know if you know of other films in which it occurs.
An online search says the first part "hey nonny nonny" was first found in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The second part, "hot cha cha" apparently belongs to jazz age slang. It's odd to combine the two phrases.
It may have occurred due to an historical coincidence. Fit-as-a-fiddle was published in 1932 and Duck Soup a year later in 1933.
It appears in at least two films that I know of: the Marx brothers Duck Soup and the fit-as-a-fiddle number in Singin' In The Rain. The wording is exactly the same in both places. Let me know if you know of other films in which it occurs.
An online search says the first part "hey nonny nonny" was first found in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. The second part, "hot cha cha" apparently belongs to jazz age slang. It's odd to combine the two phrases.
It may have occurred due to an historical coincidence. Fit-as-a-fiddle was published in 1932 and Duck Soup a year later in 1933.
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